Where Do you Tweet From?

Since becoming one of the most popular social networking sites, Twitter is drawing users of various age groups, geographic locations and reasons for using Twitter.  So where are these people all tweeting from? You’d be surprised to find out some of the most popular tweet spots.

A study by Crowd Science, a tool for reviewing website traffic stats, showed results of where people tweet from most frequently and how often people use social networking sites from a mobile device while driving. Out of 718 respondents, the majority said they tweeted the most during work hours.

Now that may not be very surprising: we all know how work can drag on sometimes.  But the second most common place to tweet is a little more shocking: in the bathroom! Looks like there’s no need for that magazine rack; just provide a computer or a phone for your house guests.  Another place that struck me as interesting was Twitter usage during a religious service.

Here are the results of the Crowd Science study on Twitter:

Of course there are multiple uses for Twitter, plenty of which I’ve been covering: retail marketing, fighting crime, etc.  But one of the biggest uses seems to be pointless babble, among other uses discussed in this Penn Olson article, which categorizes the uses into six categories. The article includes a youtube video, but it may not work so here’s the video in case it doesn’t work on the website:

Not only do the results show that people spend a lot of time on Twitter doing meaningless things- there’s a bit of a fear factor. If people are spending time on social networking sites and texting while driving, often times it results in danger.  The frequently watched youtube video “Texting and Driving,” showing a very graphic accident in the U.K., reflects the problems involved with texting, or in this case, social networking.  

Please note: this video is very graphic and disturbing.

 

Roger Avary’s Tweets Land Him Back in Jail

Screenwriter of the award-winning film, “Pulp Fiction” was sentenced to prison after a fatal DUI that killed one person and injured Avary’s wife, and had been tweeting about life behind bars since October.  Or at least we thought.

Mark Milian of the Los Angeles Times wrote an article questioning whether or not Avary was really tweeting from inside the Ventura County Jail as @avary, referring to himself as #34 (profile is now private).  As it turned out, he wasn’t. After a follow up investigation, The LA Times wrote a second article reporting that Avary was serving his time in a furlough program that allowed him to go to his job during the day and report back to the furlough facility at night and on weekends.  

Inmates in the program are not allowed to work at home, and it is unclear as to where Avary was working during the day.  It is also unclear when and why officials permitted Avary to enter the furlough program.  

As of Thanksgiving day, Avary is back in full-time custody at Ventura County Jail.  He tweeted on Thursday evening, “#34 is ‘rolled up’ to a higher security facility for exercising his first amendment rights. The truth he has discovered is too dangerous.”

What Avary was tweeting, about his life in prison, a life he made seem very difficult, wasn’t reality.  Perhaps he thought using Twitter to describe his life in prison would help get away with serving in the furlough program, but it backfired when Milian picked up the story.  I’d call it a win for Twitter and it’s accidental role in criminal surveillance.  

Here are some of Avary’s tweets:

Twitter’s serial murder admits his fictional identity

On November 16, TechCrunch Europe wrote about a user from Brighton, U.K., dinner_guest, that was tweeting very dark and morbid thoughts.  As of Novermber 17th, dinner_guest had only three followers.  Today?  292 followers.  Quite a jump!

Many news agencies and bloggers began following the co-called murder, and today the reported that dinner_guest updated his Twitter profile, changing his bio to “A fictional character born out of an artist’s mind. A meme experiment & analysis.”  Well, that’s a relief. The user turned out to be fictional: an artist’s imagination at work… at least we hope.

The incident brings up an important point though, what if this serial killer were real? What would Twitter management forces do?  One of the most debated concepts of social media is the censoring of news and the idea that amateur journalists are distributing news just as much as professional agencies.  So how does this information get policed?

For a little comic relief check out this video from Landline Tv about fictionalized Twitter Cops:

When I first thought about the concept, I wasn’t thinking about the literal term “policing,” I was thinking about what Twitter management would do in this scenario.  But then I came across an example of an arrest by police forces, some of you may have heard of in October, when an NYC activist Elliot Madison was arrested for “Criminal use of a communication facility”  (that facility being Twitter).

Here’s a video from Democracy Now War and Peace Report about the arrest.  It’s a long one, but the first few minutes summarize the charges and is then followed by an interview with Madison and his attorney.  

There really isn’t much monitoring of tweets right now, and that may or may not change (not without much debate).  But as seen in Madison’s case, police can apparently make arrests based on the use of social platforms such as Twitter: so be careful what you tweet.

Company Marketers Embrace Social Media as the Holiday Season Approaches

Halloween is over, and let’s face it- Thanksgiving is simply a minor road bump on the snowy trail to the holiday season. Most of us are already imagining candy canes and christmas cookies, but many businesses are dreaming of other things: holiday marketing.  This year’s biggest tool for companies and brands looking to market their products to a large customer base?  Social media of course!  

This post will extend a touch beyond my normal Twitter and eHow updates, since the topic applies to multiple social media platforms.  Twitter  and Facebook seem to be the largest arenas for holiday marketing, since the number of users has skyrocketed in the past year or so, and many people rely on these media bases for news and networking.  Facebook, for example, has a fan page for practically every company or brand, most of which have thousands of followers.  Through this application, companies can update their customers on sales or message fans about product events, which is seen in the YouTube video below.  Companies can reach out to new fans by making their pages global and open to everyone on Facebook.  Customers can also send fan page suggestions to their friends, increasing the number of people the company reaches.  And it’s not only large brands like Target or Victoria’s Secret PINK that have pages.  One application called Promotions allows any business or agency to run promotions for their products that include formats like sweepstakes and prize giveaways, free coupons and contests.  All a company has to do is become a fan and then post their website or facebook page with a line about their product or what’s going on with their business at the moment.  Once again, social media pulls through with the ability for amateur marketing, just like Chris Anderson discusses in his book, The Long Tail.  

Create a Facebook page for your business here!

Twitter is another great tool for business marketing, and this year we’re going to see a whole lot of tweeting during the holidays.  For example, Best Buy created Twelpforce to offer technology advice to customers in tweet form.  This season, Best Buy plans on using Twelpforce to help customers decide what gifts to buy.  

In an article from Reuters, Starbucks’ vice president of brand, content and online was quoted, “This is going to be a really interesting holiday season with social media.  It just wasn’t this far along last holiday season.”  Companies like Starbucks will use Twitter to interact directly with customers and get feedback on products, events and ad campaigns. 

This holiday season, keep tabs on your favorite companies and brands by following them on their social media sites.  You’ll find lots of great savings, and you can give customer feedback to see your visions come through in their product lines!

http://twitter.com/twelpforce?s_kwcid=TC|9005|twelpforce||S|b|4447510275

From Space to Cyberspace: A New Way to Watch a Meteor Shower

The meteor shower that occurred early this morning was not only all over the sky, but all over Twitter.  Star gazers tweeted their reactions and thoughts on the event using the hashtag #meteorshower.  The responses were varied: some people very disappointed with the show, complaining that they stayed up late for nothing.  Others were very impressed.  One user tweeted “Staying up late to watch the #meteorshower makes everything ever seem worth it.”

Most users referenced an article from the LA Times Travel Section in their tweet, since the article directed people to use this hashtag.  It also recommended using the Twitter Search “Orionids.”  

While American Amateur Astronomers (or just plain star gazers) are making strides to connect to the public and share their experiences with other watchers, one British group has developed their Twitter usage to include video footage and photographs  in their meteor shower watching.  The Newbury Astronomical Society (NAS) has made Twitter a central part of their membership activities, using the social network as a form of communication between members, as well as the public.  The group succesfully tweeted their way through the Perseid meteor shower this summer, and has plans to tweet about two upcoming events: the 2nd Moonwatch at the end of October, and the Geminid meteor shower in December.  A great benefit is that enthusiasts can take questions, or simply have discussions over the Internet using Twitter.  It reminds me of some of the examples seen in Chris Anderson’s book “The Long Tail” we recently read.  Because of social media, amateur astronomers have access to display their thoughts and footage from the meteor shower now, not just professionals.  And anyone can view this footage.  You don’t have to be in a classroom, or at a space convention: you can simply sit at your computer and see everything- even if you missed the metorshower.  

This YouTube video illustrates exactly what the NAS is aiming to do, and Dr. Robert Massey from the Royal Astronomical Society explains how Twitter is a great format for discussing and showing footage of the meteor shower:

This very dramatized trailer created by Adrian West of the NAS acts like a movie preview for the two upcoming events that the society plans on covering through Twitter, where “Amateur astronomers and the public will join together” to “Share images, information and knowledge.”  If you can get over the Star Wars-Esc aspect of the trailer, it’s a great video for conveying exactly how Social Media sites like Twitter aid public awareness and knowledge:

Twitter Offers a Great Way to Save Money

I’m a bargain hunter extraordinaire, which means I’m all ears when it comes to saving some cash.  That’s why an article CBS recently published titled “5 Ways Twitter Can Save You Money” caught my eye as I was browsing through my Google Alert for Twitter news.

The story was written by Jeff Wuorio, and appeared originally on CBS’ Moneywatch.com.  Wuorio explained that if you wade through all the crap, like Ashton Kutcher’s tweets on what he’s doing this instant, there’s a lot of really helpful ideas and people out tweeting away.  There’s also a lot of bargains…  now I’m listening.

Wuorio explained a few scenarios where people saved huge chunks of change on vacations, financing offers and cars, and then gave five tips to aid bargain hunters in their search on Twitter.  These include going directly to the source, that is, following businesses like JetBlue Airlines that routinely tweet about specials.  Another tip is to interact with friends, family members, and other Twitter users who share interests like traveling, or shop at the same grocery store even, who can share deals and finds.  The next tip is to let a website or service like CheapTweet or Fat Wallet scan through Twitter looking for the best deals for you.  These bloggers spend all their time doing this, so why not let them save you some time in search for your precious bargains? Another tip, more relevant to saving money solely on traveling is to follow a specific area.  The example Wuorio gives is to follow @BostonTweet, which recently updated information about free museums in Boston.  The final tip is to make Twitter use easy on yourself by organizing.  A useful tool is Tweet Deck, which is a free browser that manages groups, conversations and regulates Twitter spam.  

There’s a immense variety of great articles out there about specific ways people have saved money on Twitter.  One article I recently read in CN Traveler discusses how to save money on your next vacation airfare through Twitter- there are a ton of these ones. 

Compared to other social networking sites, Twitter has an advantage because it’s quick and easy for businesses to get the word out about specials and bargain products.  The true bargain hunters, like the woman in this YouTube video from NBC WLWT, will find the deals, with Twitter as their aid.  It doesn’t take much of an effort to do so yourself… so go ahead, save some money!